Typically when a gathered crowd of people sends a message, they do so by shouting in unison or with movement such as a hand wave. These movements may also involve objects. For example, at a baseball game, fans may stomp their shoes or wave their baseball caps. Furthermore, a crowd may work together to create a synchronized motion.
A common example of a synchronized crowd motion is a stadium wave which is achieved in a packed area when successive groups of spectators briefly stand and raise their arms. Each spectator rises at the same time as those straight in front and behind, and slightly after the person immediately to either the right (for a clockwise wave) or the left (for a counterclockwise wave). Immediately upon stretching to full height, the spectator returns to the usual seated position.
Another common example of a synchronized crowd motion is when concert spectators raise their lighters in hand and sway in unison to the tempo of live music.
These methods however are limited in that the objects used in conjunction with physical movements can not be dynamically updated to transmit different information without being manipulated by the user. That is, a crowd might decide to sway at a different tempo, but it's the user that has to change their own movement speeds. Another example would be: A group of users raise their mobile phones in the air at a music concert. They all have a blank white screen showing on the phone. If they are prompted to change the screen to green, each user would have to execute the request manually.
The present device seeks to augment crowd capability by utilizing mobile devices in conjunction with one another to present synchronized group messages that can be dynamically updated and retain their cohesiveness while the crowd is moving.
For example, a crowd carrying mobile devices such as Apple's iPhone can all raise their phones with an orientation allowing onlookers to see the displays. Subsequently, the individual iPhone screens can be used in conjunction to form in aggregate, a larger image to onlookers. As the members of the crowd move, the individual images on the iPhone screens are updated using an algorithm so that the aggregate image remains intact.
It is also known that mobile devices have accelerometers, magnetometers, cameras, Bluetooth communications, wireless data systems and other mechanisms for input. The invention will incorporate one or more of these inputs to relate information about the user's state in order to communicate the information effectively throughout the group of mobile devices. It can also use these inputs to modify the information displayed on the mobile devices.
The present device will work in large and small groups. Furthermore, it may incorporate various communications protocols such as those of Mobile ad hoc (MANET) and Mesh networking. As described by Wikipedia, Mesh networking is a way to route data, voice and instructions between nodes. It allows for continuous connections and reconfiguration around broken or blocked paths by “hopping” from node to node until the destination is reached. A mesh network whose nodes are all connected to each other is a fully connected network. MANET can also deal with the problems introduced by the mobility of the nodes. Mesh networks are self-healing: the network can still operate when one node breaks down or a connection goes bad.